Doing It All Over Again #IWSG
It’s February 2nd, known to people as Groundhog Day. And how can one forget the Bill Murry movie by the same name, where he’s forced to relive the same day over and over again?
That seems a bit like my book, or rather books. I’ve been working on the companion novel, and after last month’s post where I was hopeful… It quickly turned into me rewriting from the beginning again. *sigh* I’d taken my character from petty to ping-pong and while there were some improvements, the general consensus was that I’d failed to achieve my goal.
I started over, this time removing the bright idea I’d added to supposedly increase and define the character’s motivation, and tossed in implications of a nefarious plot that the character herself has no involvement in. That leads to my insecurity this month: What if I’ve lost tension by doing so? What if the beginning is boring now? There’s not a whole lot of urgency from the character’s perspective. Not only that, what if the flow doesn’t work? I’ve had to add a time jump of a few days between chapters 1 and 2 so the other character doesn’t appear to be abandoning his responsibilities the same day he gets them. That’s added to the word count, and I’m worried it’s going to throw off the story structure, making the beginning drag and the rest of it seem unbalanced.
I don’t know. Maybe this story is doomed.
On a happy note, some of my friends have published this last month! We’ve got tragic adventure, inventive mishap, murder mystery, and troublesome romance. Be sure to check out the books and pick up your own copies:
IWSG Question of the Month – Is there someone who supported or influenced you that perhaps isn’t around anymore? Anyone you miss?
In my writing, most of my support group exists in my critique group (including Dani and the Lamberts, unrelated) or my critique partners (Aldrea being my longest standing one). And as you can see, they’re still around. My group lost a member a few years back, and it was a shock for all of us. Her name was Anne Buzzini, and I’m sad that I’ll never get to read her completed story Blood Music. I remember the way she used to call out cliches in writing, spotting them like a hawk. There were other members who have come and gone, but they’re still alive and available at the other end of an email. Anne is one who left us too soon.
Have you checked out the new releases yet? Do you have anyone you miss? Have you ever struggled with a project you felt was doomed?
About Insecure Writer’s Support Group
You can find the sign up for the IWSG here. We owe Alex J Cavanaugh a huge thank you for thinking this blog hop up.
